Toilet seat



TOILET SEAT Filed Aug. l5, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 All drum

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TOILET SEAT Filed Aug. 13, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVNTOR,

ATTORNEY Nov. 3, 1942. T KRENZER 2,300,936

TOILET SEAT Filed Aug. 13, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet '4 ATTORNEY.

C.. T. KRENZER TOILET SEAT Nov. 3, 1942.

Filed Aug. 13, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 da.,V g 115 W v lwv INVENTCJRr @buuf ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 3, 1942 TOILET SEAT Cyril T. Kreuzer, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to Electric Steam Sterilizlng Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application August 13, 1940, Serial N0. 352,351

12 claims.

My invention relates totoilet seats of the class that are mounted upon or above a suitable bowl and are intended to be raised or lowered as oc casion requires, for use, cleansing or sterilization;

and objects of my invention are to provide auto matic means for lowering and raising the seat; to make the operation of such automatic means positive and accurate; to prevent disarrangement of the seat operating mechanisms by manual interference with the seat; to provide for the steri ilization of the seat at proper times; and to secure` the other novel advantages hereinafter pointed out and explained. l

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a front elevation showing the seat halves raised, portions includ-- ing the upper ends of the seat halves and case being broken away; Fig, 2 is a front elevation showing the seat lowered and broken oil', and the front casing removed; Fig. 3 is a vertical, sectional view taken aslookingto the right on Fig. 2, the case and front plate being shown in section;` Fig. 4 is another vertical sectional view, taken as on line 4-4 of Fig. 2 looking to the right; Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 looking to the right; Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are on a somewhat reduced scale; Fig. 6 is a crosssectional view, on a slightly enlarged scale, taken on the line 6-6 ofFig. 2 looking down; Fig. '7 is a vertical sectional view, on a slightly enlarged scale, taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2 looking to the right; Fig. 8 isa much enlarged detail taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 2, looking down; Fig. 9 is a cross sectional detail, much enlarged, on line 9--8 of Fig. 2; Fig. 10 is a detail, much enlarged, taken as on line III-I Il of Fig. 2, looking down; Fig. l1 is a perspective view, on a much enlarged scale, of motor control I mechanism; Fig. 12 is a perspective View, on a much enlarged scale of switch control mechanism; Figs. 13 and 14 are elevational details of `the switch control mechanism f Fig. 12, showing it in diierent positions; Fig. l5 is an elevational detail on a reduced scale, of the mechanism for preventing manual interference with the automatic seat raising mechanism;. and Fig.

y16 is a diagrammatic showing of the electrical circuits employed in the operation of the mechanism.

Similar parts are designated by similar reference numerals in all the figures.

The seat and its operating mechanism are preferably mounted upon a conventional bowl I, the mechanism being assembled within a case 2, provided with a back, sides and bottom and a detachable face plate 3, suitable supports being pro- J (Cl. 4-233) vided within the case for mounting the elements of the mechanism.

The halves 4, 5, which constitute the seat, are fixed upon a common axle 8 carried by suitable bearings 8, I8 in the base of the case 2, the axle having a `crank arm II fixed upon it, by means of which the axle 8 may be turned by means of an electric motor to lower and raise the seat as will now be explained.

A relay coil I5, is adapted, when energized, to shift an armature I8 to retract a brake band I1 controlling a ny wheel I8, driven by much re.

duced gearing (not shown, as the construction is conventional) actuated by the shaft I9 of a motor 20, which is simultaneously thrown into circuit from the coil I5 by the brake member I1 as will be hereinafter traced.

vThe movement of the motor 28 .causes the crank disk 38 to revolve clockwise, carrying up the connecting rod lI, which, by a ball and socket connection 32 at its upper nd with an arm 33, rocks upward the arm 33 on a fixed pivot 34, thereby causing the spring connections 35, 38 between the opposite ends of the arm 33 and the ends of a cross bar 31 on an arm 38, also carried by pivot 34, to rock the arm 38 so as to depress its end'38, to which a pitman rod 40 is connected by a ball and socket joint, and causing that rod to turn the crank arm I I on axle 8, swinging the yseat down toward but not quite to the bowl, as shown by solid lines in Fig. 3.

A cushioning action is provided for by a spring 43 engaged by an arm 44 keyed to shaft 8, and also by a. spring anchored within the case and connected by a strap 45 with a collar 41 keyed to shaft 8.

A bar is mounted to slide in guides 5I, 52 in the casing, its upper end embracing the arm 38 between antifriction rollers 53, 54, so that the bar may be carried up and down by the arm without binding.

The bar 58 carries a pin 55 and an arm 58 the functionsof which will be hereinafter explained.

A'contact control 59 vis mounted to slide in the case, being held to duty by a headed pin 60 passing through a slot in it and into the case, and being normally pressed inwardly by a spring 6I behind it. This control lies below a contact arm 62 which it may be made to close with contact 63 by being rocked on the pin 60, as shown in Fig. 14. The mere sliding of control 59 to and fro will not close the contacts- But its rocking will do so.

When thebar 58 is depressed sufficiently its 24, line 80, contacts 8|, 82, lines arm 56 will engage a contact element 64 and close a circuit as will be hereinafter described.

The operation of the mechanism is as follows: When the apparatus is in normal, initial position the seat is raised and operation may be initiated by closing an electrical-circuit so as to start the motor 20. This may be done by closing the circuit manually or otherwise, as by a push button 10, establishing a circuit from source throughV lines 1| 12, relay I5, and line 14 back to source, energizing the relay l and causing it, through armature I6, to release brake I1 and close contacts 2|, 23, and 22, 24, making a circuit through lines 1|, 2|, 23, 16, motor 20 and lines 18, 14 back to source, and starting the motor, and also closing a circuit through lines 1|, 19, contacts 22,

relay l5 and line 14 back to source, keeping the relay energized to hold the brake I1 released and the contacts 2|, 23 and 22, 24 closed.

The action of the motor 26 turns the crank disk 30, raising the connecting rod 3|, rocking the arms 33, 38 pushing down the pitman rod 0, which through crank arm rotates the shaft 8, bringing the seat down into the position shown by the solid lines in Fig. 3, when the projection 81 on disk 36 passing under the end of arm carrying contact 8|, opens contacts 8|, 82, breaking the' circuits and stopping the motor.

'Ihe momentum of the mechanism will cause projection 81 toclear the arm of contact 8|.

If now it is attempted to manually raise the seat, that can not be done successfully; because the upward movement of the seat, turning the seat axle 8 and pushing up the pitman rod 40, will simply cause the arm 38 and itscross head 31 to rock on the pivot 34 stretching spring 36 and compressing spring 35 without disturbing arm 33, which is held by connecting rod 3| and the motor against backward movement, so that the seat will not remain raised but will, when released, be swung down again by the action of the springs 35, 36. This is illustrated in Fig. 15.

With the seat lowered into the position slightly above the bowl it is ready for use by being sat upon, the weight of the user pushing down the seat until its free ends rest upon the bowl. This movement rotates the axle 8 slightly increasing the tension of spring 45 and the compression of spring 43 so that the tendency of the seat to rise, which it is normally somewhat overbalanced to do, will be increased to such an extent that, on the user rising, the seat will be raised by the springs.

The upward movement of the seat when'released causes contacts 62 and 63 to close completing circuits through relay and motor and putting the motor in action, causing the crank disk 30 to revolve, drawing down connecting rod 3|, rocking arms 33, 31, raising pitman rod 40, and turning axle 8 backward to fully raise the seat, at the completion of which movement the projection 81 opens contacts 8|, 82 and stops the motor.

The final upward travel of the bar 58 carries its pin 55 past the end of sliding element 59 which is pressed forward by spring 6| into the `position shown in Fg.l3, so that the end of 59 is below the pin when the seat is fully down. And when the seat is released to rise, the descending Din 55 will rock the element 59 so as to throw up its outer end against projection 89 on contact arm 62, causing it to close with contact ,63 and maintaining the actuating circuit, and until the contacts 2|, 23 and 22, 24 are established, as before explained.

As the seat reaches its fully raised position 83, 12; throughl arm 56 engages element 64, thereby closing contacts 6|, l2 and establishing a circuit from source through lines 1|, 83, contacts 9|, 62, lamp starting control 64, ultra violet ray or other selected 5 lamp 65, and lines 96 and 14 back to source; so that the seat may be sterilized, by rays from the lamp, while the seat is raised. And when the seat starts to descend the connection 9|, 32 is broken and the lamp extinguished, so that there l0 will be no rays from it except when the seat is fully raised. 1

It will be seen, therefore, that when the cycle of operation ofthe apparatus is once started, as by pushing thebutton 10, the seat will be low- 15 ered automatically and ready for use, and that after use it will be raised automatically to its initial position in which it will be sterilized, as

' by ultra violet rays, or other suitable sterllizing agents, the action ot which will be automatically discontinued when a new cycle of operation of the `lowering and raising means is initiated. This arrangement entirely eliminates manual contact by the user with the seat, thus avoiding danger of contamination through handling, or disarrangement of the mechanism by careless interference by thoughtless or careless'users.

I wish it to be understood that what I have illustrated and described is to be regarded as a typical but not an exclusive embodiment of my invention; for the precise mechanism may be changed as by the use of mechanical equivalent, or otherwise without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of my claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination, with a support, of a toilet seat fixed on a rotatable shaft mounted on the support, electrically propelled means, having a fixed, irreversable direction of rotary movement, and automatically actuated means for converting said rotary movement into alternating reversals,

. whereby the shaft is turned in one direction to lower the seat and in the opposite direction to raise it.

2. The combination, with a support, of a toilet seat fixed on a rotatable shaft mounted on the support, electrically propelled means, having a fixed, irreversable direction of rotary movement, and automatically actuated means for converting said rotary movement into alternating reversals, whereby the shaft is turned in one direction to lower the seat and in the opposite direction to raise it, and adjusting means functioning between reversals of the shaft to change the direction of its rotation.

3. The combination, with a support, of a toilet seat hinged upon the support, electrically propelled means having an irreversable direction of rotary movement, and connecting `means embodying a compound rocking bar having two commonly pivoted arms connectedby' springs for changing such movement into reversals to successively lower or raise the seat, the compound 65 rocking bar `being yieldable on its pivot to pre' vent transmission of retrograde movement to the electrically propelled means.

4. The combination, with a support, of a toilet seat hinged upon the support, electrically propelled means having an irreversable direction of rotary movement, and connecting means embracing a bar carried by a fixed pivot, a T bar carried by the same pivot and springs connecting the arms of the T bar to the free end of the first mentioned bar, whereby movement of that i actua bar may be transmitted to the T bar through the springs for changing such movement into reversals to successively lower or raise the seat.

ing a bar car'ned bya fixed pivot, a T bar car-- ried by the same pivot and springs connecting the arms of the T bar to the free end of the first mentioned bar, whereby the movement of that bar may be transmitted to the T bar through the springs, the direction of movement of the first mentioned bar being irreversable by the T bar, for changing such movement into reversals to successively lower or raise the seat.

6. The combination, with a support, of a toilet seat mounted thereupon, an electric motor pro- 'vided with speed reducing gears, a brakedisk Vactuated by said reduced gears, a brake cooperating with said disk, electrical means for releasing said brake and actuating the motor, automatic means for lowering and raising the seat, and for stopping both movements and applying said brake. -v A .i 7. The combination, with a support, of a toilet seat mfounted thereupon, an electric motor provided t/with speed reducing rgears', aibrake disk ed by said reduced gears, a sping pressed brake cooperating with ,said disk, electrical Vmeans for r leasing said brake-and-actuating the motor, automatic means fori/lowering and raising the seat, and for stopping both movements andy applying said brake.` f

8. 4 The comblnatiomwlthi a support, of a toilet seat fixed on a rotatable shaft mounted on the support, electrically propelled means; having a fixed, irreversable direction of rotary movement, and automaticallyl actuated means for converting said rotary'movement into alternating reversals, whereby theshaft is turned in one direction to lower partially the seat and inthe opposite direction to raise it, and means functioning between reversals ofthe shaft to complete the lowering of the seat.

- 9. The combination, with a support, of a toilet seat hinged upon the support, electrically propelled means having an irreversable direction of rotary movement, and connecting means embodying a compound rocking bar having two commonly pivoted arms susceptible of limited relative movement for changing such rotary movement into reversals to successively lower or raise the seat, the arms of the compound rocking bar yielding relatively to each other to prevent transmission of retrograde movement to the electrically propelled means.

10. The combination with a support of a partially rotatable shaft mounted thereon, a toilet seat ilxed on` said shaft, electrically propelled means having an irreversable direction of rotary movement, connecting means embodying a compound rocking bar and a -piston rod for alterknately reversing the direction of rotation of said shaft, a system of electrical conductors and switches, slidable and rockable switch controlling means, and means reciprocable by said compound rocking bar to actuate said switch controlling means, whereby the seat carrying shaft 'may be partially rotated alternately in opposite directions to raise and lower the seat.

11. The combination with a support of a partially rotatable shaft mounted thereon, a toilet seat `fixed on said shaft, electrically propelled means having an irreversable direction of rotary movement, connecting means embodying a cornpound rocking bar and a piston rod for alternately reversing the direction of rotation of said shaft, a system of electrical conductorsl and switches arrangeable into a plurality of circuits to automatically carry out a cycle of operations, switch controlling means, and means reciprocable by said compound rocking bar to actuate said switch controlling means, whereby the seat carrying shaft may be partially rotated alternately in opposite directions to raise and lower the seat.

12. The combination with a support of a partially rotatable shaft mounted thereon, a toilet l seat fixed on said shaft, electrically propelled means having an irreversable direction of rotary movement, connecting means embodying a compound rocking bar anda piston rod for alternately reversing the direction of rotation of said shaft, a system of electrical conductors and switches arrangeable into a plurality of circuits to automatically carry out a cycle of operations, switch controlling means, sterilizing means andv means reciprocable by said compound rocking 'bar to actuate said switch controlling means,

whereby the seat carrying shaft may be partial/ ly rotated alternately in opposite directions to raise, sterilize and lower the seat.

CYRlL 'I'. KRENZER. 

